Month: October 2020

Defining Leadership for Yourself

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of leadership encompasses: 1) the office or position of a leader; 2) capacity to lead; 3) the act or instance of leading; and 4) leaders.

Leadership is personal and organizational. It can be demand-driven, purpose-driven, people-driven or all three.

Leadership can be described differently by different people, depending on their vantage point.

The Wall Street Journal asserts that leaders should be able to adapt their style to the moment, responding to the particulars of a challenge. Effective leaders should be able to move between the following modes:

  • Visionary — Helping an organization determine a new direction by moving people toward a new set of shared dreams.
  • Coaching — When working one-on one to guide an individual’s professional development and to connect them to the broader organizational mission.
  • Affiliate — If morale or trust are issues, this style focuses on team-building by connecting people to each other.
  • Democratic — This style draws on people’s knowledge and skills, creating a group commitment to organizational goals.
  • Pacesetting — In this style, the leader sets the standard for performance.
  • Commanding — The classic model of “military”-style leadership, best suited for crisis or urgent situations. Probably the most often used, but the least often effective. Even the military has come to recognize its limited usefulness.

Tony Robbins, author, coach and nationally-renowned motivational speaker, insists all leaders should cultivate a style with an underpinning of servant leadership. That is, you using your leadership skills to serve a greater good. He believes you should first identify your purpose and then you explore the types of leadership style to determine which aligns best with your personality and situation.

His styles relate largely to the ones shared above. He even includes a “Style Quiz” to help you identify your particular style or combination of styles.

Harvard Business Review classifies leadership styles as “archetypes,” which simultaneously stamps the individual’s personality and situation onto a prototype as follows:

  • The strategist: leadership as a game of chess.
  • The change catalyst: leadership as a turnaround activity.
  • The transactor: leadership as deal-making
  • The builder: leadership as an entrepreneurial activity.
  • The innovator: leadership as creative idea generation.
  • The processor: leadership as an exercise in efficiency.
  • The coach: leadership as a form of people development.
  • The communicator: leadership as stage management.

What all these descriptions have in common is a certain level of self-awareness. The exercise of exploring personal leadership styles results in a greater understanding of an individual’s personality strengths and weaknesses, and how they might be best leveraged within an organization to have the desired result.

What matters ultimately is how you define leadership for yourself, and how that definition serves the organization and mission you find yourself charged with.

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The core course in our Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program is “Developing Yourself and Others,” which includes a CliftonStrengths 34 assessment. You will learn your unique strengths and how best to leverage as a leader for the fulfillment of your organization’s mission and your individual purpose. Now enrolling for the spring session, starting in February.

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RESOURCES:
Wall Street Journal, “How-To Guide: Developing a Leadership Style,” adapted from “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Management” by Alan Murray, published by Harper Business.
Tony Robbins, “7 Types of Leadership Styles.”
Harvard Business Review, “The Eight Archetypes of Leadership,” Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, December 18, 2013.

Emotional Intelligence and Caregiving

A MEANINGFUL CIRCLE

Emotional intelligence (EI) has long been embraced by the business community, and leaders are coached to enlarge their empathy and understanding of employees in order to address fundamental interpersonal and emotional needs in the workplace.

But does EI help in caregiving? It turns out yes.

That was the result of a multi-year caregiver study conducted by Dr. Dafna Hadar-Pecker.

She found that EI enabled professional caregivers to achieve a higher level of understanding, and consequently offer a better degree of care.

Caregivers with high EI are not immune to the negative aspects of their profession: the day-to-day need to cope with difficult issues and the physical and emotional pain.

However, caregivers with higher EI were able to avoid compassion fatigue and were more successful experiencing “compassion satisfaction.”

Says Hadar-Pecker, “EI is a tool that tells [caregivers] it’s okay to feel something deeply because you are doing something that is meaningful and valuable, and as a result it helps the treatment programs. It becomes a kind of circle.”

Further, she says, “An individual with high EI knows how to create a strategy to navigate through the negative aspects and positive aspects.”

What is Emotional Intelligence (EI)

EI is generally understood to mean the ability to comprehend and manage our emotions while simultaneously understanding the emotions of others.

For caregivers and other healthcare workers, emotional intelligence can be categorized into four areas of particular importance: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.

Diagram of 4 areas of emotional intelligence
Self-Awareness – Far from being self-indulgent, self-attention and self-care are essential, so that you can continue to help and serve.
Ask yourself:

  • Am I aware of my emotions?
  • Am I aware of how I am expressing them and impacting others?
  • What is the tone of my self-talk?
  • Are my basic human needs being met?

Self-Management – Becoming more aware of your emotions and how you’re expressing them gives you the information you need to better manage your responses.

Ask yourself:

  • Do I have effective way to navigate emotional triggers?
  • What is within my zone of control?
  • Am I making time for sleep, nutrition, and exercise?
  • Do I have a support network and do I give myself permission to lean on it?
  • What brings meaning and purpose to my life?

Social Awareness – Taking care of yourself is what allows you to take good care of others.

Ask yourself:

  • Do I listen to others first to understand rather than rush to respond?
  • Can I identify and name others’ emotions accurately?
  • Whose work haven’t I recognized?

Relationship Management – While social awareness is tuning into others, relationship management is using this awareness to have successful interactions with them.

Ask yourself:

  • Am I bringing extra patience, and assuming the best about others?
  • As a caregiver, am I being transparent with information?
  • Are my communications frequent, clear, and open to feedback?
  • Am I going slow at key moments, including moments of thanks?

When caregivers cultivate higher EI, they feel more rewarded by their work, and the patient is the ultimate beneficiary.

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Cultivate Empathy and Understanding
Wisconsin Caregiver Academy has created two specialized online live courses to enable you to learn how to honor the needs and desires of your patients. “Negotiated Risk Agreements: Balancing Risk, Responsibility & Rights” takes place on Thursday, November 12 from 9-11 a.m. “Clearing the Muddy Waters of Individual Service Plans and Assessments” takes place in two parts: Thursdays December 3 and December 10, from 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Learn more and register. With enhanced awareness and communication comes enhanced care.

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RESOURCES:
Caregivers, Caregiving and Emotional Intelligence, Open Letter, The Open University of Israel.
How Health Care Workers Can Take Care of Themselves, Harvard Business Review, David P. Fessell and Daniel Goleman, May 20, 2020.
Why Emotional Intelligence is Vital for Remote Workers, Josh Millet, Forbes Human Resources Council, September 30, 2020.